Questinable Practice?

ratherbclimbing

ratherbclimbing

Location
Knoxville TN
I was told by my old boss to use Great Stuff...the spray can used to fill in cracks and gaps in buildings..to fill in some cavities on a couple of trees at a job. I'm just curious if this is an acceptable practice? My boss at the time was an ISA certified arborist! I'm wondering if this is a commonly used method or if he was winging it? Or what the proper method is for treating a cavity? A friend of mine has a large silver maple with a good sized cavity that's approx 6" in diameter and goes in probably as far. It's retaining water and causing rot. The maple is about 60' tall and 24" in diameter! He's thinking about removing it because it's close to his house and he is worried about it! There isn't any other signs of decay or anything as I've seen this tree for the last couple of years! I don't want to take it down and he would love to keep it! I just want to appraoch this with the right tools and appropriate technique. As I've heard of ancient methods of filling with concrete! What are my options? Would like to stop it from getting bigger and fertilize! What should I do?
 
I have heard of using Great Stuff to occupy space within the cavity. This is similar to the logic of why concrete was used long ago- i.e. give the outer woundwood a physical surface to follow (instead of forming "rams horns") and it closes quicker.


I assume your boss was also bark tracing to encourage faster woundwood growth?
 
Foam, etc. won't keep out water or reduce rot/decay. All it does is fill space...until tree rats decide to excavate a nice warm nest.

Decay organisms like damp conditions. They won't live if the wood is saturated or dry. In the long run it is best, IMO, to leave the cavity open to the air. If you want to keep critters out tack some coarse hardware cloth over the opening with short roofing nails.
 
Should have been more clear..sorry...no the only thing we done was spray the great stuff in. Came back the next day and used a hand saw to remove excess and used tree dressing to paint the great stuff! That's it and nothing else we done that to several trees and one had a cavity about 12" in diameter and opened up inside the tree a little more than that at least one cubic foot!
 
Boy, I could comment a bunch on this one. Where do I start?

RBC.
The use of foam filling for cavities is as Limbwalker said, an outgrowth of the old mortar fillings of a century ago. Back then, the proficiency of a "Tree Surgeon" was marked by his ability to properly treat a cavity. This included removing all decaying wood and filling the cavity with mortar that was formed into brick-like layers from bottom to top of the cavity. Bartlett and Davey would send their crews by train to areas where they had sold cavity work to wealthy clients. Good thing they didn't have the TSA back then. Unfortunately we/they did not know or realize by excavating the decayed wood, they were breaking reaction and barrier zone walls surrounding the cavity. Today we know this... supposedly. Not everyone who claims to be an arborist knows this as I still get asked about filling cavities with concrete. The first I saw foam filling advertised was in the mid '70's and it came as a 2 part mix it up concotion like epoxy. You had to wrap foil around the tree to hold the foam in as you poured it into the cavity. A real messy proceedure at best. To your question, specifically the the Silver Maple, I would recommend not filling any cavity in a Silver Maple. As you know, they tend to have weaker wood, narrow included branch unions, don't compartmentalize well, and IMO can be worrisome as a hazard tree, and you indicate that this tree is close to your friends home. Best to perform peroidic inspections along with weight reduction pruning and any other hazard mitigation needed. In other words, I stand with Tom D. on this. Hope this helps.
 
Thanks oldaokman..I've already thinned it out and reduced the crown a little bit to allow air flow and reduce the wieght..not too much but it looks good! My friend wanted me to top it as an alternative to removal but it took a few libations and a lil education to convince him this was a bad practice on any tree but especially one with health issues already..I think I'll do what tom said and nail some burlap or some kinda canvas over it after I dry it out to keep critters out! I'll keep an eye on it and if the day comes I'll hate to see it go but atleast my blade will help me make a lil cash! What about fertilizer?
 
I'm not a big fan of pushing fertilizing unless you have a really poor site or have taken a soil sample and had it tested. I prefer to verticle mulch and mycorhizia ammendments. Too often we make judgements and recommendations based on our observation of the above ground parts, but completely ignore or forget about the below ground parts. Healthy roots = healthy crown.
 
I agree with Eric. We sometimes imagine fertilizer as a 'pick me up' or general tonic. But ferts are not that. They can only remedy nutrient deficiencies.
Improving the soil ecology is the best thing we can do for the bottom half of the tree.
We might not know exactly what that should look like, but its the preferred approach.
 
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... A friend of mine has a large silver maple with a good sized cavity that's approx 6" in diameter and goes in probably as far. It's retaining water and causing rot. ...

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Probably as far? Causing rot? Are you sure? Probing can answer these questions.

Welded wire fencing cut to fit and jammed in behind the callus may work for critter exclusion (why?) and closure.
 
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